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  1. #41
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    Ultimately you have to do what works for you! HYOH You have so many options that are so light weight these days that it would not be a significant weight penalty to take one for even occasional hot meals/beverages and if you find you aren't using it, stick it in the bounce box in case you find out later on that you do want it. Give yourself some options. While no cook may work, you might get tired of it after several weeks and just want to mix things up. Don't put yourself in a rut before you even step on the trail.

    Personally, I like the hot meals and because I dehydrate my own food and mix up my variety, it is lighter and tastes better to me than the mountain house types and I customize the spices to suit my tastes. It takes more planning of course but to me, that's part of the adventure! I like coffee in the mornings. Sometimes I like a hot tea at night. That's what works for me, but maybe not for you.

    Whichever way you go, get out there and ENJOY the trail!

  2. #42

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    in the end, you're going to be the only one who can decide if it's right for you. try it for a while and see how it goes but understand, 3 days going stoveless is not going day after day after day...

    if you want a safety valve, you can throw a couple of the 14 gram Esbit tabs in your kit and suspend your pot with rocks (assuming you are even bringing a pot). or you could even make a twig fire (but that doesn't work so well when it's been raining).

    and don't listen to comments about the ick on the bottom of the pot. yeah, it's there. but yeah, it cleans off easily enough on the trail so it's just not a big deal...

  3. #43
    Going for A walk left52side's Avatar
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    I have watched lots of videos and read many blogs on this topic,and personally for me I like to carry A alcohol stove with me and eat dehydrated meals at night as well as have my coffee in the morning.
    I have tried week long hikes stoveless and I myself was already tired of the no cook foods by the end of the week.
    I guess as mentioned above the choice ultimately is up you and no one else.
    There is always really light options such as esbit or even wood burning where you carry no fuel with you.
    There is also the re hydrate without heat method where you just place your meals in A ziploc type container and place in A warm spot(your pack if hiking or quilt etc....)
    And it will re hydrarte but take longer and not be hot.
    For me I think of A hot meal at the end of the day as A reward and honestly do not mind spending the funds on such luxury items as mountain house type meals....
    It is just A bonus for me a good moral boost to A day long hike in freezing rain etc...
    If I die trying now I wont die wondering how life could have turned out.....


  4. #44
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    So this person has posted like 5 different threads, is a new user, and hasnt responded to a single one. Troll alert.

  5. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by Secondmouse View Post
    you can throw a couple of the 14 gram Esbit tabs in your kit and suspend your pot with rocks.
    This sounds like an interesting option. Can someone who has done this comment on how practical it is?

  6. #46
    Going for A walk left52side's Avatar
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    So this person has posted like 5 different threads, is a new user, and hasnt responded to a single one. Troll alert.
    WHOA lets not jump to conclusions !!!!
    That is A little harsh in my opinion and A good way to scare A new forum member away and not want to post.
    I often times when ask for opinions myself wait sometime for some replies to get an overall feel for what the general forum thinks and base my reply upon that.
    Also I checked out OP profile and they have not been on in A couple days,possible out on A hike trying out some of the replies fro the topics he/she posted about
    If I die trying now I wont die wondering how life could have turned out.....


  7. #47
    Going for A walk left52side's Avatar
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    This sounds like an interesting option. Can someone who has done this comment on how practical it is?
    I always carry A couple solid fuel tablets in my ditty bag for emergency etc.
    I have used them in A similar manner to try them out etc... Im not sure how practical it is to use them that way full time but honestly if you are considering esbit as A main fuel source you can get an esbit tray for literally a few grams so why not carry one for the three or so grams...
    Zelph has the brian green esbit tray on there stovie page and the thing is so light ......
    If I die trying now I wont die wondering how life could have turned out.....


  8. #48

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    Quote Originally Posted by FreeGoldRush View Post
    This sounds like an interesting option. Can someone who has done this comment on how practical it is?
    I do it a lot. all you need is 2 or 3 rocks to suspend the pot 1.5" above the Esbit and one underneath to support the burning tablet.

    you live in Alpharetta, you're welcome to come over and check out my boil kits. this is the time of year I go out back and fool with fire in my wood stoves...

  9. #49
    Registered User marisajane's Avatar
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    Just finished my thru hike a few weeks ago! and am a proud member of #TeamStoveless.

    I don't cook a whole lot in real world life, and eating hot meals was neither necessary nor precious for me (and I TOTALLY GET where folks who enjoy hot meals are coming from on this point), so I stopped using my stove in the Smokies, sent it home in Hot Springs, and didn't regret it once in the months that followed. Saved me time and effort and the end of long days when all I wanted to do was eat a McDonald's cheeseburger and collapse. Which btw you can do- so many options if you're stoveless! It's not all snack foods! In my experience prepackaged lunch meat lasts for 3-5 days, depending on weather; McDonald's never seems to die ever; you can pack out those salads in bags, blocks of fancy cheese, gas station hot dogs, fresh fruit, on and on. No these aren't all healthy options but neither were the ramen and pasta sides I was cooking on my stove. As a bonus/not bonus, all those harmful preservatives in foods like deli meat work in your favor when it's 100+ degrees in PA and you're carrying smoked turkey slices. And when you get into town there's a hot food and coffee treat to look forward to.

    Obviously yes, as everyone has said, do your own thing and whatever works best for you. It's always possible to send a stove home and/or recollect it, you gots options.

  10. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by Old Hiker View Post
    Had a stove until Harpers Ferry and sent it home. MSR Pocket Rocket. Picked it up again in Hanover. Was an adjustment to get it back.

    .
    probably one of the most practical areas of the AT for stoveless as weather is warm, 2-3 day resupply is possible - both for availability and the ability of nobo (and probably sobo) to make milage by this point

    gives you a 4-6 week break from your food routine / when you go back to cooking you have another change

    as others have said, an early season start without hot food is not a popular alternative

  11. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wise Old Owl View Post
    Uh Esbit sucks if you have Aluminum pots. Have you found a way to clean them or are you using something else?
    a little water and a flat rock - 30 sec of grinding / maybe do the edges with some sand

    store in a worn out ziplock between cleaning

  12. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by RockDoc View Post
    This is a bastardization of nutrition. A gluttony/starvation cycle. Yes you can do it, if you want...
    like many other life forms, humans evolved to deal reasonably well with that system

  13. #53
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    "So this person has posted like 5 different threads, is a new user, and hasnt responded to a single one. Troll alert."

    I am no troll. I haven't been on this site for a few days, but I had been reading the responses and looking into the suggestions made. I don't think that I have posted 5 threads. I do mostly reading. I have done a lot of hiking, but nothing this long... And all of that hiking was done without a stove.

    I thank everyone for all the suggestions. I am weighing the pro's and con's of the suggestions... and leaning towards a cooking method of some kind. I still have time to work that out since I don't plan on maildropping the entire trail...

  14. #54
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    No cook, went stove-less years ago and happy with that. Sure, hot food is tasty and cozy..........I eat really well and eat my cooked food in town and when I get home.

    Peanut butter, honey, jerky, dehydrated turkey then add some water, few hours, chunks of turkey, may packets, tortillas, instant oats with nido, protein powder and dried fruit, hard pretzels (fav), cheese, SPAM, mustard packets, nuts, nuts, Rip Van Waffle's (tried those yet - yum yum), tuna packets with oil, dried persimmons, snickers..............and of course some "hooch" to wash it all down.

  15. #55
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    When I got destroyed by cold temps, wind, rain, and hail in the Smokies recently.. being able to cook a hot meal while I dried out in a shelter was a nearly life-changing experience. lol.. I guess it really depends on where you are and what the conditions are. I always carry a stove and keep the kit under 1lb.
    "Though I have lost the intimacy with the seasons since my hike, I retain the sense of perfect order, of graceful succession and surrender, and of the bold brilliance of fall leaves as they yield to death." - David Brill

  16. #56
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    I'm all for going stove-LESS. I drop some pack weight and it makes town food taste that much better. You pass thru or near a town every couple days where you can resupply and grab a bite to eat. I'm a big fan of packing out pizza or subs or a bag of hamburgers from town and eating them for dinner and maybe even breakfast the next day. While I was in the Shennies I went almost a week carrying nothing but a couple bars for breakfast, and ate at the waysides for lunch and dinner. I feel like the lighter your pack is the more miles you can do without feeling so fatigued and the faster you can get into town to get real food. I usually try to keep my food where I'm hitting town the day I run out. Probably also helps that I use a 36L pack that can't hold much more than 4/5 days worth of food. But then again...I'm one of those crazy ultralighters who'll give up a lot of comfort stuff for a lighter pack. Everyone figures it out their food situation pretty quickly as they go. I've seen a lot of people start off with stoves and ditch them, especially during the Summer months when the last thing you want is anything hot. Then again I've seen folks like /\ Rush /\ cooking bacon and mountain house eggs when its 20 degrees outside and found myself drooling over hot coffee and breakfast. I'd say start with a stove, but act like you don't have (ie. don't cook, only buy food that you can prepare without hot water) and see how going stoveless works, and it you don't need it, get rid of it, and if you feel like you do then keep it.

  17. #57
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    got a really hard time deciding if i shall bring it

    sending it home will be a pain, so have to decide before

    never cooking anything at home anyway, and i dont drink warm drinks, and used it once on my last 5 days trip, think i just skip it

  18. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by JEgestad View Post
    got a really hard time deciding if i shall bring it

    sending it home will be a pain, so have to decide before

    never cooking anything at home anyway, and i dont drink warm drinks, and used it once on my last 5 days trip, think i just skip it
    If sending a stove home is a pain, then send it to yourself a week or so up the trail via General Delivery. If you send it Priority Mail via the USPS, you can forward it for free if you don't take delivery of it. You don't even have to show up at the PO, just call them. You can keep "bouncing" it up the trail indefinitely that way, or start carrying it again if you miss it.

    I see you're from Denmark--do you have the "poste restante" system there? It works the same here, different name.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

  19. #59
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    Double check with USPS on the number of times you can forward a Priority Mail package for free. I seem to remember reading that you could only forward a box twice. I could be way wrong. Best to check at the source.
    Wayne


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  20. #60
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    ahh cool, will remember that, time for some more research on that part

    dont really use the danish post service, they gotten so expensive 4$ for a single letter and it takes longer to deliver than to walk and deliver it yourself

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